Blueberries aren't that popular in Australia. They are certainly not loved, as in the USA. However, Australian farmers are growing more of them as Australians look for something different. There is also a thriving international market.

The Clarence Valley in Grafton, NSW is the main growing region for the product. At present Australian growers supply only a tiny amount of berries to the world. Yet, Australia uses the latest genetic technology to grow good blueberries.

Hard quarantine laws stop Australia getting into the China market. Maybe this is quid pro quo for Australia's brick wall against New Zealand growers of fruit and vegetables in general. Four years ago Japan blocked imports into that country. It was only an increase in local demand that saved the industry.

Australian blueberry farmers are raising output despite there being no real overseas target market in sight. The recent summit at Coffs harbour did not change the existing state of affairs. Delegates from 25 countries attended. This was not a good investment for the Australian blueberry industry nor government.

About the only way for a business to succeed in this day and age is to improve productivity by developing new technology not by breaking employees' backs. Increasing productivity by making people work harder has never worked. It is only successful in the short term.

The Costa Group which exports high quality citrus fruit to Japan has installed an infrared Brix sensor system to improve the selection of the best for export. There will be no rejection by customers because the Brix scale shows how sweet an orange is for example. There is also higher sales of blemished fruit that are very sweet according to the scale.

It seems odd that the Brix system is not shown to domestic customers. There is a down side: minerals and trace elements are not measured. However, there is no doubt that Australian consumers would like the Brix scale placed on the sales price ticket of fruit.

Like keeping out New Zealand apples, Australian growers will go to extremes to sell low quality produce. The strangle hold on the industry must be broken. Australians should have the right to buy the best, no matter where in the world it comes from. Market manipulation is supposed to be illegal.

Being overweight leads to heart disease but it can also cause osteoporosis. This is due to people cutting out vital elements in the diet in their attempts to lose weight. Dairy products are essential for strong bones. Yet milk, butter and cheese are precisely what it being disregarded in diet by 30 per cent of women. Another danger is the consumption of bread. An astounding 40 per cent of women have stopped eating this food that is calcium fortified. It must be remembered though that bread has only been part of the human diet for 10,000 years. It could be the cause of many humans "diseases".

Research has shown that the real cause of weight gain is carbohydrates. Yes, it's as simple as that. People who only cut out sugar lose weight very quickly and maintain a low body weight thereafter. People concentrate on eating low fat diets even though research shows this to be the wrong thing to do. Look at movies made up to WWII. Actors and actresses and especially the extras were all quite skinny then. In those days most Western nations had not developed the high sugar habit. And most workers then went to work on a large fatty fried breakfast.

Danger in the future will not be with low fat diets. Young people today just refuse to eat vegetables. Cabbage and broccoli are high in iron. Young people steer well clear of these. Hope lies with the intake of fish. The young do like fish. Note the dash for seafood at Christmas. Fish contains calcium and minerals. Processed food is high in sugar. Government needs to have a policy aimed at lowering sugar intake in our diets.

The bowerbird is unusual to say the least. A fancy structure is built by the male to attract females. It is an arch of still growing undergrowth with a walk through from one side to the other. In the middle and to one side is a collection of leaves, fruit, shells, dead insects and odd glistening objects manufactured by humans.

When a female is in range the male "screeches" at the female to make her look at his handiwork. Males often wave fruit at females. The male stays in the area of the bower for up to ten years so he has an investment in that location. Researchers have found that males do not just pick up fruit laying around. The spotted bowerbird actually grows his own fruit.

As the male tends to his "plot" he throws out dried fruit of the bush tomato and clears the ground, thus leaving healthy seeds to sprout and grow into bushes. The area around the bower is full of bushes in fruit with tomatoes. This symbiosis is part of the bowerbird mating game.